Fastener applying tool

ABSTRACT

A tool for applying a fastener having rod engaging tongues to a rod comprising a support tube; a rod clamping assembly mounted in said support tube and movable longitudinally relative to said tube; a lever arrangement pivotally connected to said assembly for producing said relative movement; a release projection mounted in said tube and adapted to cooperate with said clamping assembly to release a said rod when gripped thereby; and a spring biasing said clamping assembly, in the direction opposite to said relative movement, into cooperation with said release projection; said tube being adapted to cooperate with a said fastener and, upon operation of said lever arrangement to produce said relative motion, to move said fastener along a said rod when engaged by said clamping assembly.

United States Patent 11 1 Crosa Mar. 25, 1975 FASTENER APPLYING TOOL 21Appl. No.: 412,131

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 13, 1972 Uruguay, 19154 [52]U.S. Cl 29/267, 29/283, 81/3 H [51] Int. Cl B25b 27/14 [58] Field ofSearch 29/267, 268, 283;

8l/5.l R, 5.1 B, 3 E, 3 H

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1944 Tinnerman 81/3 H4/1957 Wooliver 81/3 H 26 an; 29 20 Li 31 Primary ExaminerAl LawrenceSmith Assistant Eraminer-Harold P. Smith, Jr.

Attorney, Agent, or FirmLadas, Parry, Von Gehr, Goldsmith & Deschamps[57] ABSTRACT A tool for applying a fastener having rod engaging tonguesto a rod comprising a support tube; a rod clamping assembly mounted insaid support tube and movable longitudinally relative to said tube; alever arrangement pivotally connected to said assembly for producingsaid relative movement; a release projection mounted in said tube andadapted to cooperate with said clamping assembly to release a said rodwhen gripped thereby; and a spring biasing said clamping assembly, inthe direction opposite to said relative movement, into cooperation withsaid release projection; said tube being adapted to cooperate with asaid fastener and, upon operation of said lever arrangement to producesaid relative motion, to move said fastener along a said rod whenengaged by said clamping assembly.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FASTENER APPLYING TOOL This inventionrelates to a tool for applying fasteners, and particularly though notexclusively, to a tool for applying fasteners such as those described inpatent application Ser. No. 197,017, filed 'Nov. 9, 1971, now US. Pat.No. 3,796,124, by the applicant of the present application.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a tool whichfacilitates application of fasteners, such as those described in theaforementioned application, to rod members for the purpose of utilizingthe fastener and rod member to clamp one or more members to one or moreother members.

According to the invention there is provided a fastener applying toolfor applying-a fastener having rod engaging tongues to a rod comprising:

a support structure;

a rod clamping assembly mounted to said structure and movable relativeto said structure;

means for producing said relative movement;

a release means mounted to said structure and adapted to cooperate .withsaid clamping assembly to release a said rod when gripped thereby; and

means biasing said clamping assembly, in the direction opposite to saidrelative movement, into cooperation with said release means; whereinsaid structure is adapted to cooperate with a said fastener and, uponoperation of said means to produce said relative motion, to move saidfastener along a said rod when engaged by said clamping assembly.

The tool of the present invention is useful, for example, for applyingfasteners such as the aforementioned fasteners to mounting rods in theconstruction of roofs in which corrugated sheets are clamped toframework.

By way of example the rod member referred to above may comprise a lengthof rod bent to form a hook at one end so that it will engage a framemember and the fastener may comprise a disc like member having anannular portion inwardly and axially from which project a plurality oftongues dimensioned to engage the periphery of the rod member in suchmanner as to slide readily on the rod only in one direction, whereby onapplication of the fastener to the rod the fastener and rod may be usedto clamp a corrugated or other roofing sheet to said frame member.

It will be appreciated that the tool of the present invention is in noway restricted to use in the construction of roofs and it will bereadily apparent that the tool is useful for applying the aforementionedfasteners in a wide range of situations arising, a wide range ofindustries, technologies and environments.

A preferred embodiment of a tool according to the invention will now bedescribed, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view;

FIG. 2 is a partly sectioned perspective view;

FIG. 3 is a sectioned end elevation along section line The tool shown inthe drawings comprises a tubular cylindrical housing, a clampingassembly 2 housed within the cylindrical housing, a handle 3 projectingfrom the cylindrical housing normal to its longitudinal axis and apivoted lever 4 pivotally mounted to the cylindrical housing andpivotally connected to the clamping assembly 2 for operation thereof.

The cylindrical housing is open at its upper end 5 and closed at itslower end 6 with the exception of a central opening 7 having a diameterto accommodate a rod member 8, forming part of the fastening system inconnection with which the tool is to be used, and a downwardly openingcountersink of sufficient size to accommodate tongues of a fastener 9,to be utilized in conjunction with the rod member to produce thefastening 3-3 of FIG. 1 with the tool shown in the process of applying afastener to a rod member;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the interior construction of a rodengaging portion of the'tool;

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on section line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional elevation taken on section line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

assembly. The upper end 5 of the cylindrical housing has alongitudinally extending slot 10 in the periphery of the housing toaccommodate motion of the lever 4. The handle 3 is rigidly attached tothe periphery of the cylindrical housing and is in alignment with theslot 10.

Rigidly mounted on the cylindrical housing 1 adjacent to handle 3 andprojecting in the same general direction as the handle 3 is a pivotsupport 11 to which is pivotally mounted the lever 4 by means of a pivotpin 12. A coil spring 13is disposed under tension about the pivot pinand has its ends connected respectively to the lever 4 and pivot support11 so as to bias the lever 4 away from the handle 3. The handle 3 is ofa U-shaped cross-section to accommodate the lever 4 when the lever ismoved against the bias of the spring to operate the clamping assembly 2.The handle 3 and lever 4 are spaced apart a distance which facilitatesthe gripping of these members by a human hand in such manner that thegripping action of the hand will operate the tool.

End 14 of the lever projects into the upper end 5 of the cylindricalhousing 1 through the slot 10 and is pivotally connected by a pivot pin15 to the clamping assembly 2.

The clamping assembly may best be seen by reference to FIGS. 3 and 4,which, respectively, show a sectional elevation and an exploded view ofthe clamping assembly. The clamping assembly comprises a lower cupshaped member 20, a cap 21, a U-shaped yoke 22, two links 23, a splitclamp washer 24, and a coil spring 25.

The cup 20, cap 21, and yoke 22 are welded together to form a hollowcylindrical member the ends of which are closed with the exception ofaligned openings 26, located on the longitudinal axis of the cylindricalmember, of a diameter to permit said rod member 8 to projectlongitudinally through the cylindrical member. The opening 26 in cup 20is larger in diameter than is required merely to permit projection ofthe rod member 8 therethrough and is of sufficient diameter to permitentry of a release member 27, which is mounted on the inside of thelower end 6 about the central opening 7, into the cup shaped member 20.

Housed within the cylindrical member is the split washer 24 and the coilspring 25. The coil spring 25 is disposed between the cap 21 and thesplit clamp washer 24 to bias the split clamp washer 24 down into thecup-shaped member 20.

The split clamp washer 24 comprises a pair of like substantiallysemi-circular members of cross-sectional form as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6and which when together to form the split clamp washer 24 provide acentral bore dimensioned to engage the periphery of said rod member 8and the external diameter of which is dimensioned to engage the interiorcylindrical periphery of the cup-shaped member when the split clampwasher engages the periphery of the rod member 8. The bore defined bythe two parts of the split clamp washer 24 is, when the periphery of thesplit clamp washer engages the interior periphery of the cupshapedmember 20, slightly smaller in diameter than the exterior of a rodmember 8 with which the tool is intended to operate. In addition thisbore of the split clamp washer is of slightly tapered form in order thatthe diameter of the bore is smaller on the side of the split clampwasher adjacent the coil spring 25. The shape end dimensions of thesplit clamp washer produce an interference fit of the two parts of thesplit clamp washer between a rod member 8 disposed therebetween and theinterior periphery of the cup-shaped member 20 thereby to cause saidgrip of the periphery of a rod-shaped member. The adjacent diametricallyextending faces of the split clamp washer 24 taper away from one anotherto facilitate entry of the release member 27 therebetween when thismember 27 projects through the opening 26 in the cup-shaped member 20.

Legs 28 and 29 of the yoke 22 extend along the periphery of thecylindrical member formed by the cupshaped member 20 and cap 26, arewelded thereto and project inwardly along the internal periphery of thecup-shaped member 20 to engage cutouts 30 in the split clamp washer 24.This engagement results in the split clamp washer 24 being confined toalignment with the yoke and consequently to a fixed orientation insidethe cylindrical housing 1 as a result of the control of orientationprovided by pivotal attachment of links 23 to the lever and 14 by meansof the pivot pin 15.

The release member 27 is attached concentrically about said opening 7 tothe inside of the lower end of the tubular cylindrical housing 1,projects inwardly along the longitudinal axis of the tubular cylindricalhousing 1, and has an end in the form of a transverse ridge 31. A boresufficient to permit the projection of rod member 8 therethrough extendslongitudinally through the center of the release member 27 coaxiallywith opening 7. The dimensions of the release member 27 are such as topermit the release member to project through the opening in the centerof the cup-shaped member 20 so that the ridge 30 will enter into the gapbetween said adjacent diametric faces of the split clamp washer when theclamping assembly is in a position closely adjacent the lower end of thetubular cylindrical housing 1. This entry of the ridge 3]. into thespace between the diametric adjacent faces of the split clamp washer 24causes the two parts of the split clamp washer 24 to be moved slightlyapart thereby to release a rod member 8 engaged by the split clampwasher 24.

Operation of the tool described in relation to the drawings will now bedescribed and in this respect attention is particularly drawn to FIG. 3in which the tool is shown in the process of clamping a corrugated sheetto a roofing member 41 by means of a fastener assembly comprising rodmember 8 and fastener 9. Pastener 9 is of the type generally describedin the introduction to this specification.

The hook member 8 is hooked around roof member 41 and the straight shankof the rod member is passed through a hole in the corrugated sheet. Aneoprene" seal 42 is placed around the rod above the corrugated sheetand fastener 9 is placed on the free end of the rod member and slidpartially down the rod member.

The tool of the present invention is then positioned so that the freeend of the rod member 8 passes through the central opening at the lowerend of the tubular cylindrical housing, the bore in the release member27, the lower opening of the cup-shaped member 20 and through thecentral bore defined by the split clamp washer 24. The split clampwasher 24 is displaced against the bias provided by the coil spring 25to facilitate easy passage of the end of the rod member between the twoparts of the split clamp washer.

With the tool in this position the handle and lever are moved toward oneanother thereby moving the clamping assembly through the tubularcylindrical housing longitudinally of the rod member 8 with the resultthat the split clamp washer 24 under the biasing influence of the coilspring, and by virtue of its contact with the rod member, is urged downinto the cup-shaped member 20 thereby, by virtue of the fit of the splitclamp washer within the cup-shaped member 20 and the fact that the boredefined by the split clamp washer is slightly smaller than the diameterof the rod member 8, gripping the rod member 8 so that the tubularcylindrical housing 1 is moved longitudinally of the rod member 8,toward the sheet 40, carrying with it the fastener 9. This process iscontinued until the fastener 9, in combination with the hook of the rodmember 8, securely clamps the sheet member 40 to the roof member 41. Torelease the tool from the rod member 8 the lever and handle are releasedto allow the spring 13 to move, by way of the lever 4, the clampingassembly 2 into a position where it is adjacent the lower end of thecylindrical housing 1 thereby to cause the ridge 31 of the releasemember 27 to enter between the adjacent diametric faces of the two partsof the split clamp washer 24 to move the split clamp washer upwardly andoutwardly away from the rod member 8 against the bias of the coil spring25 to release the rod member 8 and permit removal of the tool therefrom.

lt willbe appreciated that although the preferred embodiment describedin this specification is a manually operated tool the inventive conceptwith which this invention is concerned could readily be adapted foroperation by pneumatic, hydraulic or electrical power and that suchalternative embodiments fall within the scope of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A tool for applying a fastener having rod engaging tongues to a rodcomprising:

a support structure;

a rod clamping assembly connected to said structure and movable relativeto said structure;

means for producing said relative movement;

a release means connected to said structure and adapted to cooperatewith said clamping assembly to release a said rod when gripped thereby;and

means biasing said clamping assembly, in opposition to said relativemovement, into cooperation with said release means; wherein saidstructure is adapted to cooperate with a said fastener and, uponoperation of said means to produce said relative motion, to move saidfastener along a said rod when engaged by said clamping assembly,wherein the clamping assembly comprises: a housing having an openingpermitting projection of a said rod into said housing,

a split clamp member captively disposed in said housing and defining arod engaging opening; and

a resilient means to bias said split clamp member into engagement with asaid rod projecting through said opening and said rod engaging opening,

said split clamp member is in an interference fit between said housingand said rod and said rod is gripped by said clamping assembly.

2. A tool for applying a fastener having rod engaging tongues to a rodcomprising:

a support structure;

a rod clamping assembly connected to said structure and movable relativeto saidstructure;

means for producing said relative movement;

a release means connected to said structure and adapted 'to cooperatewith said clamping assembly to release'a said rod when gripped thereby;and

means biasing said clamping assembly, in opposition to said relativemovement, into cooperation with said release means; wherein saidstructure is adapted to cooperate with a said fastener and, uponoperation of said means to produce said relative motion, to move saidfastener along a said rod when engaged by said clamping assembly,wherein the clamping assembly comprises: a housing having a baseportion, opposed wall portions projecting from said base portion and anopening in said base portion permitting projection of a said rod intosaid housing centrally between said wall portions; a split clamp membercaptively disposed between said wall portions and defining a rodengaging opening; and

a resilient means to bias said split clamp member toward said baseportion; wherein when a said rod projects through said opening in saidbase portion and said rod engaging opening, said split clamp member isin an interference fit between said wall portions and said rod wherebysaid rod is gripped by said clamping assembly.

3. A tool according to claim 2, wherein said split clamp member isdisplaceable away from said base portion against the bias of saidresilient means by a said rod and by said release means to facilitatepassage of a said rod into and out of said clamping assembly.

4. A tool according to claim 2, wherein said opening in said baseportion also permits projection of said release means therethrough intocooperation with said split clamp member to release a said rod whengripped by said split clamp member.

5. A tool according to claim 4, wherein said release means has a ridgeadapted to extend into the split of said split clamp member tosimultaneously open said split and move said split clamp member againstthe bias of said resilient means.

6. A tool according to claim 5, wherein:

said support structure is a cylindrical tube closed at one end exceptfor an opening permitting the projection of a said rod into saidstructure;

said rod clamping assembly is mounted within said tube for movementrelative thereto along the longitudinal axis thereof;

said housing is in the form of a circular cup with the bottom of saidcup forming the base portion and the peripheral wall of said cup formingthe opposed wall portions;

said split clamp member is a substantially circular clamp washerconstructed of two like substantially semi-circular parts which togetherdefine said rod engaging opening; and

said release means is a projection attached to the closed end of saidtube, having a rod opening coaxial with saidopening in said closed endand being adapted to project through said opening in said base portioninto the split between said parts of said split clamp member.

7. A tool according to claim 6, comprising;

a handle projecting from said tube;

a lever pivotally connected to said tube;

a pivotal connection between said rod clamp assembly and one end of saidlever; and

wherein said means biasing said clamping assembly comprises;

a spring connected to said lever and said tube to bias said rod clampingassembly into cooperation with said release means.

8. A tool according to claim 6, wherein the split between said parts isof tapered cross-section to facilitate entry of said release means intosaid split.

9. A tool according to claim 6, wherein said rod engaging opening isfrusto-conical in form to facilitate passage of a said rod into saidopening to provide an acute angle lip to facilitate gripping of said rodon operation of the tool.

1. A tool for applying a fastener having rod engaging tongues to a rodcomprising: a support structure; a rod clamping assembly connected tosaid structure and movable relative to said structure; means forproducing said relative movement; a release means connected to saidstructure and adapted to cooperate with said clamping assembly torelease a said rod when gripped thereby; and means biasing said clampingassembly, in opposition to said relative movement, into cooperation withsaid release means; wherein said structure is adapted to cooperate witha said fastener and, upon operation of said means to produce saidrelative motion, to move said fastener along a said rod when engaged bysaid clamping assembly, wherein the clamping assembly comprises: ahousing having an opening permitting projection of a said rod into saidhousing; a split clamp member captively disposed in said housing anddefining a rod engaging opening; and a resilient means to bias saidsplit clamp member into engagement with a said rod projecting throughsaid opening and said rod engaging opening, said split clamp member isin an interference fit between said housing and said rod and said rod isgripped by said clamping assembly.
 2. A tool for applying a fastenerhaving rod engaging tongues to a rod comprising: a support structure; arod clamping assembly connected to said structure and movable relativeto said structure; means for producing said relative movement; a releasemeans connected to said structure and adapted to cooperate with saidclamping assembly to release a said rod when gripped thereby; and meansbiasing said clamping assembly, in opposition to said relative movement,into cooperation with said release means; wherein said structure isadapted to cooperate with a said fastener and, upon operation of saidmeans to produce said relative motion, to move said fastener along asaid rod when engaged by said clamping assembly, wherein the clampingassembly comprises: a housing having a base portion, opposed wallportions projecting from said base portion and an opening in said baseportion permitting projection of a said rod into said housing centrallybetween said wall portions; a split clamp member captively disposedbetween said wall portions and defining a rod engaging opening; and aresilient means to bias said split clamp member toward said baseportion; wherein when a said rod projects through said opening in saidbase portion and said rod engaging opening, said split clamp member isin an interference fit between said wall portions and said rod wherebysaid rod is gripped by said clamping assembly.
 3. A tool according toclaim 2, wherein said split clamp member is displaceable away from saidbase portion against the bias of said resilient means by a said rod andby said release means to facilitate passage of a said rod into and outof said clamping assembly.
 4. A tool according to claim 2, wherein saidopening in said base portion also permits projection of said releasemeans therethrough into cooperation with said split clamp member torelease a said rod when gripped by said split clamp member.
 5. A toolaccording to claim 4, wherein said release means has a ridge adapted toextend into the split of said split clamp member to simultaneously opensaid split and move said split clamp member against the bias of saidresilient means.
 6. A tool according to claim 5, wherein: said supportstructure is a cylindrical tube closed at one end except for an openingpermitting the projection of a said rod into said structure; said rodclamping assembly is mounted within said tube for movement relativethereto along the longitudinal axis thereof; said housing is in the formof a circular cup with the bottom of said cup forming the base portionand the peripheral wall of said cup forming the opposed wall portions;said split clamp member is a substantially circular clamp washerconstructed of two like substantially semi-circular parts which togetherdefine said rod engaging opening; and said release means is a projectionattached to the closed end of said tube, having a rod opening coaxialwith said opening in said closed end and being adapted to projectthrough said opening in said base portion into the split between saidparts of said split clamp member.
 7. A tool according to claim 6,comprising; a handle projecting from said tube; a lever pivotallyconnected to said tube; a pivotal connection between said rod clampassembly and one end of said lever; and wherein said means biasing saidclamping assembly comprises; a spring connected to said lever and saidtube to bias said rod clamping assembly into cooperation with saidrelease means.
 8. A tool according to claim 6, wherein the split betweensaid parts is of tapered cross-section to facilitate entry of saidrelease means into said split.
 9. A tool according to claim 6, whereinsaid rod engaging opening is frusto-conical in form to facilitatepassage of a said rod into said opening to provide an acute angle lip tofacilitate gripping of said rod on operation of the tool.